DIY: Iridescent Watercolor “Fish Scale” Artwork

The 30-minute acrylic artwork that I made to go over the pet station in my breakfast area has since gone to live in the hallway. (Matt thought the hallway needed the brightness and cheerfulness of the painting.) Since I needed something else to go over the pet station, I decided to make this iridescent watercolor “fish scale” artwork. I’ve seen other “fish scale” artwork projects over the last couple of years using one color of paper, like this one from Just A Girl, or using paint chips, like this one from Lansdowne Life. So I decided to put my own spin on the fish scale artwork project.

Just a quick disclaimer first. The name of this project is a bit of a misnomer. While I did use watercolor paper for the project, and the final effect has a bit of a watercolor look to it, I actually used acrylic craft paints. I already had those on hand, and didn’t feel the need to spend more money buying watercolor paints that I’d probably never use again. The acrylics worked out perfectly.

To make my “fish scale” artwork, I started with a stack of watercolor paper*, a paint brush, and acrylic craft paints in several colors. I also kept a bowl of water nearby.

*I used a pad of Strathmore 140-pound 300 series watercolor paper with 12 sheets in it, and I used all 12 sheets for this project. I found it at Hobby Lobby for $9.97, and used a 50% off coupon.

Then I started randomly mixing the colors as I painted each sheet of watercolor paper. If the paint had trouble spreading and blending, I would dip the tip of my brush in to water and continue painting. (It’s watercolor paper…water won’t hurt it or wrinkle it at all! But just a little water goes a long way.)

Here’s what a sheet looked like when it was completely finished. I actually think it would be beautiful just to frame that!

I also made one sheet each of my three main colors, using lots of white paint and water to get the color variations.

With all 12 of my watercolor sheets painted and dry (which doesn’t take long at all), I used a circle cutter to cut 2.5-inch circles. FYI, there’s no way I’d do this project with a pair of scissors!! I used another coupon at Michael’s and picked up a circle cutter for $9. It was very well worth the money, and I’ve wanted a circle cutter for a while now anyway.

After all of the circles were cut, I went back and lightly brushed a bit of metallic silver craft paint over each one. It gave each one a beautiful iridescent-looking glimmer, and also added some depth and dimension to the colors.

With all of my circles finished, I decided to do a “dry run” to arrange them just like I wanted them. I wasn’t initially planning on doing this, but I’m glad I did so that I could be sure that all of the different colors were spaced out. I’m way too much of a control freak to leave things to chance.

Next I used a piece of luan that I bought at Home Depot for under $5, and I cut it to fit my frame (22″ x 26″) with a circular saw. Then I marked lines on the luan at 1.25-inch intervals (since my circles were 2.5″ in diameter).

Then starting on the bottom row and working my way up, I attached the circles with my hot glue gun.

After all of the circles were attached, I just trimmed off the excess on the edges, and then put it into a frame that I had purchased at a garage sale for $2. With a fresh coat of white paint, it looked (almost) as good as new!

There’s just something about a repetitious pattern that I find calming, and I love the streaky, shimmery colors.

It’s very difficult to capture the subtle shimmer of the metallic paint with my camera, but I don’t think I would have liked this project nearly as much without it. The metallic paint just gave the paint colors a look of dimension that they didn’t have before.

It definitely took longer than I thought it would to make, but considering that the whole thing cost under $20 (including the paints, which I bought on sale, and the frame, which came from a garage sale), I think it was well worth the time.

Wow Kristi, what a wonderfully inexpensive artwork with a gorgeous look. I love your colour scheme & can imagine the shimmer from your excellent closeup photo. I think I’ll try a smaller version for a Christmas gift. Thanks for another great idea.

This was such a unique diy project and I love how it looks! I’ve never used a circle cutter and went shopping online – the only kind I can find are much more expensive than the $9 you mentioned, and many of them look as though they might poke a hole in the middle of the circle. Am I looking for the wrong item?

This turned out beautifully, congratulations!
I was wondering if there’s a reason that you painted the silver after cutting the circles instead of before? Did you just think of it later? I want mine to look just like this — do you think it’ll be the same if I paint the silver all over the paper? Thanks!

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